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Right handed deba 167mm on edge. Overall length is 320mm, handle is 136mm. Handle is Macassar Ebony, with a fossil mammoth ivory spacer and a spalted maple burl ferrule. I will get handle dimensions when i get home from work.

This is my first deba, been working on it for the last 6 months or so. Will have this one posted for sale here real quick, just wanted to show it off. What do you guys think?

Mike, I love that you make sure the knife works as you planned before sending it out. Lots of guys don't do that. I am really noticing it right now with the gyuto.your extra effort makes a huge difference.

Just a feedback regarding an American Deba. from a Home Asian cook ( Chinese/ Malay Origin)

Was deliverered to me when the Stock delivered Mike's Baby and I understood that he didn't have time to touch up as Baby was coming out and wife. I suppose was in blissful agony adn father presumably was in ecstasy and I as confident that I can do the fine the touch up and didnt want to wait. Perfectly understandable in such times then. I missed teh 1 million layer Damascus by 45 minutes and thought better to snag it as some sellers prefer to sell it to fellow Americans.

There were a few small nick after his wacking testing and I dutifully started working on it scraping off teh small nicks on a 1000 grit stone after which I used 600 grit sandpaper to thin the blade road adn proceeded to teh stone respectfully bearing in mind that it is a convex edge and proceeded metal polish namely autosol to the buffing wheel and left it aside. Much of the blade road area was thinned with sandpaper.

Today, my grandma ( constant companion for teh last 14 years as some board member speculated or postulated that I am living all alone due to my post of ": balance of Power" ) wanted to eat grilled fish. I remember that the deba was ready in waiting adn went down stairs to buy a couple of fishes abt 8 inches long each uncut and not gutted. Paid RM 22 equivalent of USD7 in total adn thus the contest between the Davis Deba and the 2 pieces fo fish began.

Round 1.
Objective was to make butterfly cuts with the a) head b)also on the body with the spine and secondary bones removed so that each pieces will be grilled separately. IN Asia some people like to eat the bone area as it is suppose to be sweeter. It is common for us to use our hands as to some, teh food would taste magically wonderful. It is an art by itself. ( using of hands to eat which is a necessity in more rural areas as it is not good manners not to be in harmony with the hosts. Out of respect they may offer you a fork adn spoon but when you do as they do... eating with your hands... a feeling of respect and having a meal together is complete.... You dont dine or eat with your enemies...

a) When the teh tip of the deba went through the stomach area till just below the mouth area.. it was a smooth cut. I opened the slit stomach and ma ma mia.. it was a nice surgical cut thru all the organs. Passed with flying colors!

b) Cut thru the head.. No problemo.. no rubber mallet required just a quick jerky press adn it was done. Just one jerk. I was surprised.. Passed with flying colors!

c) next was to butterfly the head. Had some problems removing the gills. For safety sake, I prefer to slice it vertically downwards as it wld be safer as using it sideways with much force... OOOh anything can happen. Sseparated the meat on the two sides of the backbone around the head region so that it can be flattened, THis is where teh steep curve of the blade does not match my unusual cutting style as I have to raise the handle higher for the tip to enter the head of the knife. A more gentle upsweep of the profile will only present less raising of the handle. Still a solid pass IF not due to my idiosyncratic unprofessional style
d) separating the meat from the backbone till the top so that it is one large piece. This was no problem as the intention was not to make it as thin as possible so that teh bone ( area) eater would have some meat!

The fish was grilled on the lodge cast iron flat plate. I had the body, grandma had the head, spine and the Top area( dorsal fin)

Round 2.
Objective was to cut from the nose to the tail on both sides adn as close as possible adn hopefully leave as little meat on the spine as possible after which toi slice into small thin slices. MY skill is severely lacking as i am still far away leaving a thin transparent layer on the skeleton.

Deba went thru the paces flawlessly.

Most probably I will slice it into small pieces on a carbon steel pan with ginger, onion and shallots and some greens .

All in all.. a great knife, much respect to a new knife maker having the audacity to test the Japanese Knife makers. It wld have been an orgasmic experience but I am pass that age. Just less aggressive upsweep wld have been perfect for me.

By the way.. The knife was highly polished as I was surprised that the patina ( light purplish gray developed so quickly right before my very eyes inspite of constant wiping. Havinng said that at an angle , you still cant hid ethe mirror shine. THis is the first time that I am using a 52100 steel. The Burke scimitar will be ready whenever I am invited by a rural village headman for a feast in the honour of a visitor.. But Alas I am not going there anymore ( Cambodia) as I learnt that teh water there still has high level of arsenic adn when I was living there.... I lost so much weight for no apparent reasons and I suspect that could be the main cause

All in all took me about 45 minutes as I struggled with the gills as I didnt have my fish pliers with me. Washing the insides of the fish over running water can be quite therapeutic just like knife sharpening